Let's stop tinkering with time

We need some enterprise reporting on the utterly ridiculous waste of time that happens twice a year. There, I've already exposed my prejudice. I fell off a ladder Sunday while changing a clock.

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By Jim Hillibish

recordnet.com

By Jim Hillibish

Posted Nov. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Jim Hillibish

Posted Nov. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Facts about Daylight Saving time

• Why 2 a.m.? If the switch occurred before 1 a.m., time would revert to the previous day, creating confusion.• Daylight Saving Time has a long history. Ben Franklin supported the i...

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Facts about Daylight Saving time

• Why 2 a.m.? If the switch occurred before 1 a.m., time would revert to the previous day, creating confusion.

• Daylight Saving Time has a long history. Ben Franklin supported the idea as a way to save on candles.

• Daylight Saving Time was formally adopted during World War I and World War II to save fuel.

• Time changes get complicated for trains. When clocks are turned back an hour, Amtrak trains stop and wait an hour to keep to their published schedules.

• Before Daylight Saving Time became uniform, passengers on a 35-mile West Virginia bus route changed their watches seven times.

• Today, Daylight Saving Time is observed in 70 countries worldwide.

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We need some enterprise reporting on the utterly ridiculous waste of time that happens twice a year. There, I've already exposed my prejudice. I fell off a ladder Sunday while changing a clock.

Everything we blindly assume to be true about daylight saving time is balderdash. We cannot even pronounce it right. It's saving, not "savings." This drives copy editors crazy.

What does it save anyway? The day is still 24 hours. We've just messed up everybody's clocks. It's so clueless, the time change is now billed as "Battery Check Day." Whoop-de-do.

What exactly is so enticing about dusk starting at 5 p.m. before we even get home from work?

The most frequent answer blames the time change on - who else? - the farmers. You'll never meet a farmer who likes time changes. It wrecks the internal clocks of their milk cows.

Next excuse is that the switch gave more morning daylight for workers in armaments factories during World Wars I and II. Has anyone noticed that these wars have ended?

When car accidents began slaughtering people on highways, the concept grew that adding an hour onto sunset would save lives. All it did was create more accidents in the darkness of the morning rush. And the Monday after the spring switch to daylight saving time shows an 8 percent increase in serious traffic accidents, as all of us have lost an hour of sleep.

Daylight saving lobby groups claim it supports a green environment, and we should endure its tinkering in times of energy crises. They are backed by zero proof that daylight saving saves energy. It simply rearranges its use.

Congress, bless it, regularly wades in by tweaking DST. In 2007, Congress moved it ahead three weeks and postponed its end by a week, adding to the utter confusion of dealing with the rest of the world, especially with Asia, where all the money is. Companies spent millions reprogramming their computers.

All the rest of the world, including the Eskimos, thinks we're crazy for meddling with Ma Nature's grand time scheme. Only Americans could suffer hubris this vain.

And here's the convincer: Not all Americans are dumb enough to switch their clocks twice a year for no reason. Arizona and Hawaii refuse to participate. They're joined by part of Indiana, where there's this crazy house with a living room in one time zone and a bedroom in another.

Some activists are taking a more reasoned look. They say that since Eastern Standard Time is the same as Central Daylight Time, and Mountain Standard Time is the same as Pacific Daylight, why not create two time zones nationwide and forget this madness of "changing time" twice a year?

They have a petition to Congress online. But they aren't overly confident that it's time for rational thinking.

Jim Hillibish is a feature and editorial columnist for GateHouse Media at The Repository in Canton, Ohio. Readers may contact him on Twitter @jhillibishREP.